Residence hall hosts "human zoo" for a cause
By Jade Cowan
Lance Writer
December 3, 2008
 On Nov. 23 to 28, residence assistants from Macdonald Hall, Cartier and Alumni Hall surrendered their iPods, cell phones and freedom to form a human zoo in the hopes of raising enough money to fund their Higher Education Reach Out (HERO) project.
The group set an initial goal of $400, but the success of the zoo may have seen that number more than doubled.
The project was created and designed by Andrew Bascom, a Macdonald Hall residence assistant. Bascom recognized the potential for an inter-residence fundraiser after the success of the haunted house tours that took place on Halloween for residence students.
Bascom had no problems finding willing participants, and seven residence assistants from Macdonald and Alumni Hall quickly became the first group of human zoo “animals.” Later on, the residence assistants from Cartier would also join.
While a majority of the contestants were not personally participating in the project, they remained committed to raising as much money as possible.
The zoo was set up in Moose Mountain, the large study room in the basement of Macdonald Hall. Participants were allowed to bring their mattresses and bedding, as well the bare essentials they would need during the duration of the zoo.
The door was kept locked from the inside, and the only means of communication was a walkie-talkie or “jail mail” a system by which students could write to any of the imprisoned residence assistants.
Meals were brought in three times a day. On a table in front of Moose Mountain sat fourteen jars, two for each participant. The jars were divided into two categories: rewards or punishments. Students, professors, or staff would drop money into the jar of the residence assistants they wanted to see rewarded or punished. Participants were also permitted to take one jar to class with them.
The Human Zoo’s contestants followed a strict set of rules that were enforced not only by Bascom, but attentive students. Participants were allotted 10 minutes in the morning to complete all personal hygiene routines. No personal Internet use was permitted, and they were allowed to leave only for work or class with 10 minutes to get back to the zoo or risk being caught and punished. Breaking these rules resulted in being placed in the “circle of shame” outside on the cement patio where students could throw tomatoes at the offending residence assistant.
Every evening, students and residence assistants were invited into the Macdonald Hall theatre where the day’s results were revealed. Videos of the participants were shown every evening, a feature that took approximately five hours of labour.
Depending on which jar had accumulated the most money, participants were either rewarded or punished. These rewards and punishments had been predetermined based on personality tests taken by the contestants. Rewards included candy, 15 minutes of personal computer use, or in one instance, a megaphone.
Punishments were more common, and included the removal of a mattress, or having a favourite meal eaten in front of the perpetrator by a fellow zoo “animal.” Every evening also saw the election of a new exile, a process done confidentially by participants in which an individual spent the day in a fort-like structure within the zoo.
Videos of the human zoo can be found at www.youtube.com/uofwhumanzoo.
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